Tick, Tock goes the Clock 2: Clocks Strikes Back!
by Reiven
Summary: Gen-fic. In the aftermath of ‘the letter’, Yuriy is positive that Kai’s lost it and decides to write a reply. Unfortunately, fate has other plans. Will he prove to be stronger that Kai, or will he too, succumb to the evilness of the clock?


**Disclaimer**: As Usual™

In the aftermath of 'the letter', Yuriy is positive that Kai's lost it and decides to write a reply. Unfortunately, Fate has other plans. Will he prove to be stronger that Kai, or will he, too, succumb to the evilness of the Clock?

Sequel to Tick, Tock Goes the Clock; best to be read beforehand.

**Tick, Tock Goes the Clock 2: The Clock Strikes Back!**

* * *

Yuriy lay stretched across the couch, pondering his action after receiving that odd and mildly suspicious letter from his former teammate. What was Kai up too? Did he have something in mind to get back at the Neo Borg for something they did? Maybe that was actually a secret code of some sort, signaling an impending doom for him. Yuriy shook his head, pushing the thoughts out of his mind. Kai might be an air-headed idiot, but at least he was an up front, air-headed idiot.

He shrugged it off, deciding to concentrate more on the tournament tomorrow. The entire future of the Abbey and Biovolt was depending on their performance. He had no time to worry about Kai and the inner workings of his twisted mind.

**Squish …**

The pillow was squashed under his hand as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. He ran a hand through his flaming red hair before moving to walk out the door.

His footsteps silent, almost wolf like as he made his way across the hall and towards the door. He never made it to the door however, stopping next to the dining table when he noticed an empty writing pad and a black ink pen lying noticeably next to it. It seemed as if the hands of fate had placed them there for a reason. It was calling out to Yuriy; asking him, begging him to use it.

**Creak …**

The floorboards made a sound as Yuriy shifted himself from one foot to another, carefully contemplating whether to take the pieces of stationary up on its offer.

'_Use us …'_

'_Use us …'_

That was what rang around in Yuriy head as the ink pen and pad called to him, alluring him with the promise of revenge. Not as if Kai had done anything to have revenge be brought on upon him, but in Yuriy's mind-no reason was needed when Kai was the object in question.

**Twitch …**

You could almost hear the pulling of muscles as Yuriy's lips twisted into a smirk, his eyes gleaming with a mischievous plan. Walking in an almost hypnotized manner, he pulled out a chair for under the table and took seat; his right hand curling around the pen and touched the tip to the piece of paper.

**Tick, tock …**

The sudden, unexpected sound caused him to lift his head up and looked around for the source of the noise. Not hearing it for a second time, he returned to the task at hand.

_To Kai,_

_How are you? I received your letter just a few minutes ago and I'll tell you; I've never read such a fine piece of writing before in my life –_

No; too much ranting.

'_It needs to be more straight to the point_,' Yuriy scratched his forehead with the butt of the pen, thinking. A few minutes later, his attention turned back to the letter.

_To Kai,_

… _You're an idiot –_

No; too straight to the point.

Yuriy was starting to get frustrated, even though this was only his second line. He roughly scratched the tip of the pen over the writing and moved lower down the page.

_To Kai,_

_Has the Bladebreakers idiotic mentality and childish behaviour finally rubbed off on you? I never thought I'd see the day when the great and powerful Kai Hiwatari finally admits his secret fetish with Takao plushies –_

No! That made absolutely no sense!

Perspiration started to gather on his forehead as the wheels in his brain turned, trying to come up with a phrase that was short, smart-assed and straight to the point.

**Tick, tock …**

There it was again.

Yuriy's eyes scanned around the room, but once again, he found nothing.

A light bulb went off all of a sudden in his head. He smirked; eyes narrowed into slits as he tore off the ruined piece of writing and began a new letter on a fresh piece. He wrote and wrote and wrote, concentration fully on finishing the task at hand. He did not notice when the other three Neo Borg members walked through the door or when Boris grabbed Ivan by the collar of his shirt and proceeded to give him, possibly, the biggest wedgie ever seen by the naked eye.

He just kept writing.

Many minutes later, he stopped and placed the pen on the table. Satisfied with the result, he pulled open one of the drawers and took out an envelope. He placed the letter inside, making sure the seals were secure; he dropped it onto the table and lounged back into the chair.

'_Hope you enjoy the letter, Kai_.'

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Kai sat in the comfortable large chair placed in the middle of the hotel room Mr. Dickinson had rented for them. His eyes were closed and hands were folded behind his head as his mind wondered to the events of the past few days. Yesterday, Kai had lost his match against Sergei, one, which was clearly an intentional loss – as Kai liked to tell people. Tomorrow, it would be Rei's turn then … Takao's. Kai would be lying if he said he didn't feel the teeniest bit worried about the outcome. Takao was indeed an excellent player yet he lacked the calculating mind and – dare Kai mention it – smartness that Yuriy did.

Though, Kai would sooner throw himself into a pit of man-eating caterpillars than ever admit such a thing in front of Yuriy. His head was big enough as it is.

Further thoughts and theories concerning the big-redheaded Captain of the Russian team were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Kai groaned and hesitatingly pushed himself up, eager to find out who this person was who dared to derail his train of thought. He threw open the door and found himself face to face with the mailman. He rolled his eyes and held out his hand, wanting to get whatever this guy was sending and slamming the door in his face. Yes – Kai had it all planned out already.

He received the white coloured envelope in his hand, however, the mailman managed to walk away before Kai could slam the door, '_Bugger_!'

Shaking his head, he closed the door anyway and turned to the letter. Tearing open the cover, and pulling out the white piece of paper, his eyes scanned over the neatly written letter. Kai raised an eyebrow as he read the contents.

_To Kai,_

_Tick-tock … tick-tock … tick-tock …_

Kai would barely hold back a chuckle at the thought of Yuriy experiencing the same fate as he, but as his eyes followed the writings, he found that it did not only finish at the end of the paper, it extended all the way to the back. His hand unconsciously turned it around, and what he saw there made his eye twitch. The very last line of the second page read:

… _tick-tock … Just kidding, Kai. You idiot. Haha!_

He eyebrows narrowed as his minds eye started imagining that smirking, know-it-all look on Yuriy's face.

Kai unconsciously gripped the paper tight, wrinkling the once smooth surface. His eyebrow started to twitch continuously as his mind started to imagine various scenario's involving Yuriy's death, '_Damn you …_' he mentally growled.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off over his head. Kai looked up in irritation at the blown fuse, as if fate wasn't already spiting him, when he struck by a thought and a smirk curled at his lips. In an almost maniacal manner, Kai grabbed his coat and stalked out the door, eager to give back to Yuriy his due punishment, '_No on mocks Kai Hiwatari and lives to tell about it!_'

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

"What do you think Kai and his band of merry morons are doing right now?"

"Who knows, probably attempting to save the world one kid at a time."

"Who really cares! The match today was obviously rigged! How else could I have lost to that pansy little fur licker!"

Through the years, Yuriy had mastered the art of ignoring his teammates when their conversation started to become abnormally stupid, mostly involving Ivan talking about something random, Sergei blurting a couple of nonchalant answers and Boris complaining about something completely different.

No, there were more important things he had to think about, such as his impending match the next day. Normally Yuriy wouldn't be worried given the current situation, not to mention his current opponent, but this time it was different.

'_I know Kai has some revenge planned_,' Yuriy twirled his thumbs together, '_the question is, what is it and when is he going to do it?_'

"Hey, dear Cap'n seemed to have something on his mind. I bet it involves Kai naked and a bath tub in Ibiza."

"I'm sure you're speaking from personal fantasies."

"Would you two just shut the hell up! I've just been through a crappy day, and I'm sure someone rigged the match!"

**Tick, tock …**

Yuriy's ears perked up at the sudden sound. A look around the room confirmed his suspicions; no seemed to have heard it other than him, so that either meant that the three members of his team were already going deaf due to continuous subjection to Balkov's dreary, monotone voice or he was the one who was losing it.

"Pot calling the kettle black," Yuriy mumbled, catching the attention of the three occupants of the room.

"What was that? Watching Kai doing it in the sack?"

Yuriy shot a glare at Ivan, causing him to shrink back in fear, "None of you business!" he growled and stomped off, leaving the befuddled teens to stare at his retreating back.

"So … you think it's okay to send him in for the next match? He seems a little …"

"Loony?"

"I was going to say nuttier than a fruitcake, but that works too."

"Who cares about Yuriy or fruitcake, the most important issue here is that little piece of feline scum completely-"

"We know! Now shut the hell up, Kuznetsov!"

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

'_Morons,_' Yuriy trudged down the stairs of the Abbey, not caring of his heavy steps were echoing around the small space. He needed to get some air to calm his nerves, and cure the headache that he could feel coming on because of too much thinking.

He was too preoccupied with his own thought that he didn't notice when the person climbing up the stairs until the both of them almost collided.

"Watch where you're going, idiot!" he glared at the random member of the Abbey.

"Y-yes, Yuriy, C-Captain," the boy stuttered, "B-by the way, I was just looking for you," he lifted the brown wrapped package and held it out to Yuriy, "this came in the mail for y-you."

"What is it," Yuriy stared at the box apprehensively. There was something not right about the package and he could smell Kai's scent all over it.

"I-I don't know, Captain. The mail man just said that it was for you," the boys' eyes shot around nervously, his face was as ripe as a tomato as a result of being in Yuriy's imposing presence.

Eventually, Yuriy relented and took the package from him; watching with an amused expression as he shot for the exit without a second thought, probably to go brag to his friends that he had just made contact with the Captain of their team. Yuriy had that kind of effect on people.

He shook his head free of the thought and turned back to the package he held in his hand, scanning it intently, as if trying to see though the outer cover with his nonexistent x-ray eyes.

'_Kai sure made his move early,'_ his eyebrow twitched slightly.

Deciding to continue on his way, he slipped it under his arm and continued back on track. It would probably be safer to open it in confines of his own room, lest Kai decided on a particularly embarrassing form of revenge.

**Tick, tock …**

While half way down the second floor, he felt movement underneath his armpit, specifically, from the box. Yuriy took a deep breath, curiosity getting the best of him, and put it on the ground. His fingers moved to undo the knot around the box and tore open the brown wrapping, leaving a bare, white box before him.

'_Here goes nothing,_' he gulped and opened the lid of the box, subconsciously shutting his eyes tight.

After a long minute of silence, he dared to crack open his eye, relieved to know that it wasn't a bomb. What, instead, met his eyes caused him to laugh out loud.

A Cookoo-clock?

"I knew it! Kai's officially gone bonkers."

In the midst of his laughter, he didn't notice the minute hand of the clock joining the hour one at twelve and as reliable as old faithful, the little door of the clock shot open and out flew a wooden cookoo bird, headed straight for him.

Yuriy didn't have time to react as the sharp beak of the bird caught him in the eye, he dropped the clock to the floor and stumbled back in pain. His foot became tangled in the brown wrapping he had carelessly discarded, causing him to fall over backwards … and down the steps.

**Thud … thud … THUD! **

After an agonizing tumble down the cement stairs, Yuriy landed a mass of groans, moans, and flailed and broken limbs at the foot of the staircase. His mind could only concentrate on one thing before the overwhelming pain consumed him and he lost consciousness.

'_Damn … you … Hiwatari …_'

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

"I'm so psyched up for the match!"

"Calm down, Takao, you don't want to wear yourself out before the match even begins."

"Hell yeah! You'll need your strength to fight the Neo Borg. Want some sugar?"

"Win this one, and we'll become World Champions! That'll show Boris who really rigged the match."

Kai, after years of practice by being with the Neo Borg, was almost as skilful in the art of ignoring as Yuriy was, '_Speaking of Yuriy, I wonder if he got the present yet,_' Kai smirked.

However neither Kai's basking in his own genius-mind, nor did his teammates excitement of the on coming match could have prepared them for the news that Mr. Dickinson brought as he rushed into their locker room, out of breath.

"The Neo Borg – _pant_ - forfeited – _pant_ - the match!" he huffed.

"…"

Silence filled the room until it's very core. Their brain was slowly absorbing the situation at hand.

"What!"

"I just got the news – _pant_ – Yuriy, the Captain, was injured when he fell – _pant_ – down a flight of stairs."

'…' Kai seemed to go brain-dead for a moment as he processed the information, '_Don't tell me …_' his eyebrow twitched, _'… it couldn't have shocked it 'that' badly … could it?_' Kai's palms became clammy, sweat rolled down the side of his temple, '_it was just a picture …._'

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

"Damn Kai! Damn him to hell and back! Damn – argh! That hurt, moron!"

"Geez, Cap, one would think you'd have a higher tolerance for pain."

"Let's see how you deal with a shit load of broken bones and bruise on '_your'_ ass!"

Subsequent to the events of the previous day, Yuriy was not one happy camper. After being brought in to the hospital three hours after his accident, he was diagnosed with a broken ankle, broken collarbone; a fractured wrist, minor head and eye injury, plus a concussion and a vicious bruise on his tush.

"Look on the bright side, Yuriy, at least Balkov can't rag on you to practice for the next few months."

"And more about this mysterious clock. Are you sure '_you're'_ not the one going mad?"

"Don't make me hurt you!"

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but short-stuff's right. Unless I'm mistaken, they haven't invented cookoo-clocks that stand up and walk away on their own yet."

"Piss off! I told you what I went through! That bird intentionally tried to blind me and Kai is the one's who's responsible for it!"

"Sure, sure. I think we'd better leave, boys, it's time for our dear, ole Captain to take his meds."

"Go to hell!"

"We are, so we'll see you there?"

Yuriy intensified his one-eyed glare his three teammates laughed their way out the hospital room.

A few minutes passed, he sighed exasperatedly and leaned back into the pillow, contemplating the situation he was in. The doctors had confined him to the bed for the next three weeks; his body ached all over, especially his ass. He could feel a huge headache coming on and due to a bothersome eye-patch and the stiff neck brace he was forced to wear, he couldn't count on his peripheral vision. Now anyone could just walk up from his side and he wouldn't even notice.

"Yuriy."

The sudden voice caused him to jerk up slightly and pain shot up his entire body. He snapped his head around and came face to face with:

"Kai! You nearly scared the bejesus out of me!"

"As if you had any bejesus in you in the first place."

"So … what do you want? Felt the sudden urge to bask in the result of your handiwork?"

"Err … not really. I was just wondering how someone could be shocked shitless the way you were by the gift."

"Biggest understatement of the century."

"It's quite funny if you think of it, actually."

"I bet it is, Kai, now bug off and leave me to wallow in my self pity for the next three weeks."

"No, really. The great and powerful Russian Captain, brought down by an innocent, naked picture of himself."

"…"

"What?"

"… what do you mean by 'innocent, naked picture?'"

"That's what I sent you … right?"

"No, I got a clock, which you had set to 'maim and kill … slowly."

"No, I didn't …"

**Tick, tock …**

Then, it started.

**Tick, tock …**

Yuriy looked at Kai.

Kai looked at Yuriy.

**Tick, tock …**

The little hairs on the back of their necks stood on end.

Sweat beaded at their foreheads.

**Tick, tock …**

"Well, it's good to see you're doing well, Yuriy. I'll be on my way then."

"Wha-you- don't you dare ditch me, Hiwatari! You-hey! Come back here!"

"I'll be by … sometime. Get well soon."

"Hey, you! Kai, come back here, you bastard! Kai! Hiwatari!"

The door snapped to a close, leaving Yuriy alone in the empty white room. His eyes fixated on the closed door, sending a telekinetic message for Kai to get his sorry ass back into the room, but to no avail. He was gone.

'_Son of a –_' with a resigned sigh, he gave up, heaving a deep sigh and closed his eyes.

**Tick, tock …**

Yuriy's eyebrow twitched. Throwing a glance over to the wall on his far left, he spotted a seemingly innocent clock placed inconspicuously on the wall. He swore that it wasn't there a minute ago.

**Tick, tock …**

The incessant twitch didn't seem to want to let up, so he just took a deep breath and closed his eyes in an attempt to drift off into slumber.

**Tick, tock …**

He cracked open his good eye and glared at the clock.

**Tick, tock …**

Yuriy smothered his face with a pillow, trying (in vain) to muffle out the irritating sound.

**Tick, tock …**

He never did realize just how annoying an incessant ticking could be, especially if you're immobile and unable to do anything about it.

**Tick, tock …**

His breath quickened.

**Tick, tock …**

Sweat poured down his face.

**Tick, tock …**

The sound drummed in his ear like a herd on rampaging elephants in heels.

**Tick, tock …**

He saw his entire life flashing before his eyes, before being consumed by a dark, infinite hole.

**Tick, tock …**

He could hear the clock laughing at his pain, his yearning for peace and tranquillity and desperation for the clock to stop its damn ticking!

**Tick, tock … tick, tock … tick, tock … tick, tick, tick, tick …**

Yuriy screamed.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Meanwhile, in the other realm, Fate, while indulged in a particularly enticing chess match against Mortality, laughed. They wouldn't know that he had switched the packages and sent Yuriy one of his own. He laughed at their imbecilic-ness when it comes to matters concerning Common Sense, who was currently on vacation in the Caribbean's.

Kai and Yuriy, two perfect examples of ignorant Mortals, caught in a web of their own deceit. The tapestry of Fate had already been woven, and it said –

"Hey, Bob. It's your move."

"Keep your shirt on, Mort, although, you might not even have that when I'm done with you."

Yep. No one tempts Fate and gets away with it, especially when he possesses the winning pawn in the game of strip chess.

* * *

**The End.**

(The character of Mortality was first introduced in my Ty Kamara story '_How Elisa Got Her Groove Back_.')

I don't think this is as good as the first one, but, oh well, it's as good as it gets :D I'm quite proud of it actually.

Posted along with update of _As the Ice Breaks_ in celebration of my big two-oh today. Boohoo. I'm old! ;.;


End file.
